What's the Advantage of Having a Gas Stove?

A new 1500 sq ft home my wife and I are building is to have propane heat. We'll be living in Adirondack Park in upstate NY.

We are debating on whether to eventually purchase either a wood stove or a gas stove. I like wood (I enjoy splitting it, stacking it, the smell of it) but everyone tells me gas is the way to go for efficiency, convenience and cleanliness.

My question is that other than ambiance, would a gas stove benefit us in any way, that is, if I already have a gas furnace does it make sense to buy a gas stove? Would there be any benefit in purchasing one to possibly reduce my energy bill?

Thanks in advance.

Reply to
badger1
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I'm old enough to remember my mother cooking on a wood stove. The labor difference between that and a gas stove was at least 10 to 1. She got remarkable results but it was real work and a summer kitchen was absolute hell for women then. She just murmured, "Thank god that thing is gone..." as the scrap wagon hauled it away. Buy a wood stove if you must and put it someplace where it can be seen and admired by guests, but keep the wretched thing out of the house. No way the average shaky marriage of immature adults these days could survive the hassle of having to rely on something so primitive. But your situation may be different, and better so choose wisely. Whatever, good luck. You live in a pretty area.

Joe

Reply to
Joe

I'm old enough to remember my mother cooking on a wood stove. The labor difference between that and a gas stove was at least 10 to 1. She got remarkable results but it was real work and a summer kitchen was absolute hell for women then. She just murmured, "Thank god that thing is gone..." as the scrap wagon hauled it away. Buy a wood stove if you must and put it someplace where it can be seen and admired by guests, but keep the wretched thing out of the house. No way the average shaky marriage of immature adults these days could survive the hassle of having to rely on something so primitive. But your situation may be different, and better so choose wisely. Whatever, good luck. You live in a pretty area.

Joe

Reply to
Joe

Cook and heat with propane Backup heat and ambience heat with wood.

A proper wood stove will have a flat top that you can use to cook in an emergency, and yet be a decorative wood stove to provide heat and ambience otherwise

Reply to
<ThrowAwayAddress

I&#39;m guessing that you don&#39;t do the cooking, or you wouldn&#39;t even ask. What does your wife think?

_No_way_ would I ever want to cook on a wood stove if I had the option of using gas, and for the same reason I hate cooking on electric stoves, only worse: far too slow response to changes in the heat setting. When you turn the burner up on a gas stove, the heat goes up instantly -- and, even more importantly, when you turn the gas *down*, the heat goes *down* instantly.

On an electric stove, if you have a pot beginning to boil over, or if you&#39;re starting to scorch a white sauce, your only option is to move the damn thing to a different burner. And if they&#39;re all in use... you&#39;re SOL. Same problem with wood, only worse.

On a gas stove, you turn the heat down, and the pot stops boiling, and the sauce stops burning, *right*now*.

Want to brown meat? Turn the burner up high on the gas stove, and you&#39;re browning it in moments. Electric? Wait ten minutes, and it might be there. Wood? Build your fire half an hour ahead of time, I guess.

Want to brown meat, and then add sauce and simmer it? Child&#39;s play on a gas stove, to go immediately from high heat to low. Electric? Not hardly. Wood? Forget it.

And we haven&#39;t even started to talk about cleaning out the ashes.

Reply to
Doug Miller

Both a wood stove and a gas one will burn the pin feathers from a newly-plucked chicken. So I guess it&#39;s flip a coin.

Reply to
HeyBub

Here&#39;s my take on a gas range over electric

Professional cooks insist on gas ranges Instant on/off Less expensive Less repairs needed Better browning when broiling, baking Gas has more dependable service than electric

Reply to
Phisherman

Consider this: 99.97% of people who have had a choice have switched to gas or electric over wood.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

I&#39;d love to cook on a wood stove. Maybe two, three times a year.

We have a wood burning stove for heating, but it does have a griddle on the top. A couple of times a winter we&#39;ll cook on it, or do a pot roast. As for having it as my regular cook stove, No way.

One big disadvantage is the heat in warmer weather. Gas shuts off, wood keeps going until it burns out.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Advantage gas surface burners - faster warmup for pots or pans on the surface. I prefer a gas cooktop. Also, when electric power is lost, the gas cooktop still works though the electronic ignition may not.

Advantage electric ovens - less heat released into the kitchen since the heat is generated within the insulated cooking space rather than externally applied.

Advantage electric griddles and large cooking surfaces - more even heat with fewer hot spots.

I would not buy a standalone, all-gas stove.

Reply to
Thomas Kendrick

But they could be used to make soap!! :)

Reply to
dadiOH

Easy to melt zinc when you want to hot-dip galvanize something.

Reply to
dadiOH
[...]

When I can buy three bars of soap for two bucks at the grocery store, I see _no_ point in making my own. The old ways aren&#39;t always better...

Reply to
Doug Miller

I think you&#39;re talking about a supplemental heat source. Others think you are talking about a cooking range. If you want to cook, propane is a no-brainer for all the reasons they&#39;ve stated.

For supplemental heat and a little ambiance, I&#39;d go with propane, too. I&#39;m down near Schenectady and made the switch 4-5 years ago. I did it because I was buying wood and it was twice as expensive as propane. I bought a cast iron Desa stove with fake logs that fool casual observers. The fire itself mimics a wood fire.

If you have a source of free wood, then it makes the decision harder-- but for me the thrill of cutting wood wore off after a few years.

Now I enjoy regulated heat; no bugs, sawdust, smoke or ashes in the house; increased safety; zero labor for constant heat; increased humidity -propane *adds* moisture to the air; lower heating costs-- this year propane/wood were probably equal here, but for the first 3 years propane was 1/2 what wood was costing me for a much more regulated and labor free heat.

If you have a cold area that would be difficult to run duct work to, or is a huge heat-loser it might make sense to supplement with a space heater. Mine is on a converted slab porch with 6 windows and an outside door. It is on the far end of the house from the [oil] furnace so ducting would take a supplemental fan and would still be on the &#39;wrong&#39; wall for comfortable heat. My propane stove keeps that room comfortable and serves as a backup if the power fails.

Get one with no fancy fans or electric thermostat & it will also be a heat source when the lights go out.

Jim [and don&#39;t forget to buy a propane & CO detector]

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

Aside from the cooking decisions of gas vs. wood, you will want to look into issues of ventilation and out-gassing. There&#39;s definitely a lower risk of problems with CO and other harmful gasses cooking with gas than cooking with wood, no matter how skilled a person is at building a proper fire.

In older houses that wasn&#39;t an issue, but today&#39;s construction is much more air-tight and more prone to containing those gasses.

Reply to
Kyle

It gets rid of bacon grease too :)

Reply to
dadiOH

So do my dogs... :-)

Reply to
Doug Miller

What do you use to get rid of the dogs?

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

I have a wood stove for heating. For cooking I can use it like a crock pot. Put a big kettle of stuff on and cook it all day. I can&#39;t use it to boil water quickly as there is not enough heat. Also the amount of heat on the wood stove top depends on how cold it is outside and how warm it is inside. If it is not too cold outside and warm inside, I don&#39;t want to build a big fire. And don&#39;t want any fire during the summer. But if it is cold outside and I will need a fairly good fire all day, then I will get out big pot and cook a stew or a roast/turkey, etc. Then this will last all week and I can heat it up in the microwave. In the mornings (winter) fried eggs and bacon cooked on the woodstove comes out perfect, but takes longer to cook. Also it can take a half hour for the wood stove top to get hot when first building a fire.

Electric stoves are either off or on. There is a sensor which turns the heating element on and off, on and off. So you get really hot, then warm, then really hot again, then warm. Eggs don&#39;t do well with this off and on business. Things tend to burn on the bottom of the pan from the periods of on - high heat. I wish they made one which was more like a light dimmer. Always on but a steady heat and you would control how much heat. Maybe they do make such an electric stove?

With a gas stove, as someone else pointed out, you can adjust the amount of flame and get a steady low, medium, or high heat. So for example fried eggs will come out better. The downside of a gas stove is the fumes - get an outside vent/hood.

Reply to
Bill

Never had a problem with fumes. We rarely turn on the hood in winter under normal cooking circumstances. Perhaps yours needs adjusting?

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

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